Sunday, November 13, 2011

Ah - it's winter!

The weather today has been absolutely glorious. Clear, blue skies, little breeze, warm sunshine. Almpst unbelievable for this time of year. The local weather forecast said it was going to be a bit like this yesterday, but it was not. Oh, it didn't rain, but it was not as warm as promised, and had little sun,
Which was a shame, because my good friend Michelle came for the day, and we thought we had chosen a day with better weather. Nonetheless, we all had a good time. It was Michelle's first time on a canal boat, and she seemed to enjoy it, with lots of questions, and frequent comments about the peacefulness. We set out towards Foxton Locks, moored for lunch on the way, went through Crick Tunnel... and then realised that, despite the time - around 4 o'clock, it was getting dark. We made maximum haste - 4 mph - for the nearest winding hole, turned and made our way back. Grace observed that we might as well go back through the tunnel, since that was dark anyway! but we emerged from it less than twenty minutes later under a night sky, and we could not go any further.

The problem was, of course, that Michelle's car was back at the marina, about forty minutes' walk away, and she had a two-hour drive ahead of her, to get back home. So, after fortifying ourselves with tea and cake, Michelle and I set off into the dark, leaving Grace to secure the boat. I had a torch, so the towpath and footpath route back to Yelvertoft was easy enough. The night was warm, the moon bright. Having got back to her car, Michelle drove me back to the bridge nearest to where Kantara was, and left for home. Grace and I spent the night there, just past the tunnel, and returned this morning. Hey - we cruised! 6 miles!! Oh, and thanks very much for the superb brandy, Michelle!